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Before George Eliot became the popular and respected [#permalink]
13 Jul 2010, 00:33

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E

Difficulty:

25% (medium)

Question Stats:

60%(01:44) correct
40%(00:57) wrong based on 237 sessions

Before George Eliot became the popular and respected novelist known as George Eliot, she had been an anonymous translator and essayist(A) Before George Eliot became the popular and respected novelist known as George Eliot, she had been(B) Before she had been the popular and respected novelist, George Eliot she was(C) George Eliot has been popular and respected novelist, George Eliot after such time as she was(D) Before George Eliot became the popular and respected novelist, George Eliot,she was(E) George Eliot, before she was the popular and respected novelist, George Eliot, had been

all the other answer choices seems either too wordy or awkward...my choice was A - it made more sense

B --> the last part is not correct- "george eliot she was" atleast the comma was misplaced...C--> incorrectD --> redundant "george eliot", the should have been "a"E --> again... 2 instances of her name is wrong.

I'm reluctant to chime in on this one because I believe there are a couple of transcription errors in the original post (for example, a comma missing in B and the end of the sentence is missing in the given sentence). I'm relying more on the BTG post linked above. Plus, I think it is odd that the name George Eliot is used twice, not because of redundancy, but because of inaccuracy. Before the author became known as George Eliot, she (by definition of "before"!) was not referred to as George Eliot. In case you were wondering, she was known as Mary Anne Evans originally (thanks Wikipedia!).

But all that aside, A is better than D because the commas around George Eliot are incorrect, or at least debatable. "Known as" may be wordier, but it is more correct.

For example:The popular and often-quoted author Mark Twain lived in Hannibal, Missouri, during his formative years. CORRECT.The popular and often-quoted author known as Mark Twain lived in Hannibal, Missouri, during his formative years. CORRECT.The popular and often-quoted author, Mark Twain, lived in Hannibal, Missouri, during his formative years. INCORRECT (or at least less correct).

Some might argue that his name is parenthetical, and the sentence is grammatically complete as "The popular and often-quoted author lived in Hannibal, Missouri, during ...." They'd be right. But it's tough to make the case that the name of this author is optional/unimportant/less important than the generic subject "author."

The real GMAT would make all 4 wrong answers more definitively wrong than that, in my opinion. _________________

Thanks for the explanation. But why is past perfect used in A? It could have been simple past e.g.

Before George Eliot became the popular and respected novelist known as George Eliot, she was ---> not "had been". Before does the sequencing on the time line.

An example of this is "when" clauses. We know that past perfect is used to sequence two past events. But the exception is "when" clauses. When clauses happen first when both clauses are in simple past tense.

I'm reluctant to chime in on this one because I believe there are a couple of transcription errors in the original post (for example, a comma missing in B and the end of the sentence is missing in the given sentence). I'm relying more on the BTG post linked above. Plus, I think it is odd that the name George Eliot is used twice, not because of redundancy, but because of inaccuracy. Before the author became known as George Eliot, she (by definition of "before"!) was not referred to as George Eliot. In case you were wondering, she was known as Mary Anne Evans originally (thanks Wikipedia!).

But all that aside, A is better than D because the commas around George Eliot are incorrect, or at least debatable. "Known as" may be wordier, but it is more correct.

For example:The popular and often-quoted author Mark Twain lived in Hannibal, Missouri, during his formative years. CORRECT.The popular and often-quoted author known as Mark Twain lived in Hannibal, Missouri, during his formative years. CORRECT.The popular and often-quoted author, Mark Twain, lived in Hannibal, Missouri, during his formative years. INCORRECT (or at least less correct).

Some might argue that his name is parenthetical, and the sentence is grammatically complete as "The popular and often-quoted author lived in Hannibal, Missouri, during ...." They'd be right. But it's tough to make the case that the name of this author is optional/unimportant/less important than the generic subject "author."

The real GMAT would make all 4 wrong answers more definitively wrong than that, in my opinion.

Thanks for the explanation. But why is past perfect used in A? It could have been simple past e.g.

Before George Eliot became the popular and respected novelist known as George Eliot, she was ---> not "had been". Before does the sequencing on the time line.

An example of this is "when" clauses. We know that past perfect is used to sequence two past events. But the exception is "when" clauses. When clauses happen first when both clauses are in simple past tense.

I'm reluctant to chime in on this one because I believe there are a couple of transcription errors in the original post (for example, a comma missing in B and the end of the sentence is missing in the given sentence). I'm relying more on the BTG post linked above. Plus, I think it is odd that the name George Eliot is used twice, not because of redundancy, but because of inaccuracy. Before the author became known as George Eliot, she (by definition of "before"!) was not referred to as George Eliot. In case you were wondering, she was known as Mary Anne Evans originally (thanks Wikipedia!).

But all that aside, A is better than D because the commas around George Eliot are incorrect, or at least debatable. "Known as" may be wordier, but it is more correct.

For example:The popular and often-quoted author Mark Twain lived in Hannibal, Missouri, during his formative years. CORRECT.The popular and often-quoted author known as Mark Twain lived in Hannibal, Missouri, during his formative years. CORRECT.The popular and often-quoted author, Mark Twain, lived in Hannibal, Missouri, during his formative years. INCORRECT (or at least less correct).

Some might argue that his name is parenthetical, and the sentence is grammatically complete as "The popular and often-quoted author lived in Hannibal, Missouri, during ...." They'd be right. But it's tough to make the case that the name of this author is optional/unimportant/less important than the generic subject "author."

The real GMAT would make all 4 wrong answers more definitively wrong than that, in my opinion.

As far as I understand, rule that is applicable for 'when' is not applicable for 'before'. 'when' clearly shows two incidents happening immediately, but 'before' does not signify the immediate sequencing. _________________

As far as I understand, rule that is applicable for 'when' is not applicable for 'before'. 'when' clearly shows two incidents happening immediately, but 'before' does not signify the immediate sequencing.

I'm reluctant to chime in on this one because I believe there are a couple of transcription errors in the original post (for example, a comma missing in B and the end of the sentence is missing in the given sentence). I'm relying more on the BTG post linked above. Plus, I think it is odd that the name George Eliot is used twice, not because of redundancy, but because of inaccuracy. Before the author became known as George Eliot, she (by definition of "before"!) was not referred to as George Eliot. In case you were wondering, she was known as Mary Anne Evans originally (thanks Wikipedia!).

But all that aside, A is better than D because the commas around George Eliot are incorrect, or at least debatable. "Known as" may be wordier, but it is more correct.

For example:The popular and often-quoted author Mark Twain lived in Hannibal, Missouri, during his formative years. CORRECT.The popular and often-quoted author known as Mark Twain lived in Hannibal, Missouri, during his formative years. CORRECT.The popular and often-quoted author, Mark Twain, lived in Hannibal, Missouri, during his formative years. INCORRECT (or at least less correct).

Some might argue that his name is parenthetical, and the sentence is grammatically complete as "The popular and often-quoted author lived in Hannibal, Missouri, during ...." They'd be right. But it's tough to make the case that the name of this author is optional/unimportant/less important than the generic subject "author."

The real GMAT would make all 4 wrong answers more definitively wrong than that, in my opinion.

What about the tense difference between A and D?

Before George Eliot became the popular and respected novelist known as George Eliot, she had been an anonymous translator and essayist(A) Before George Eliot became the popular and respected novelist known as George Eliot, she had been(B) Before she had been the popular and respected novelist, George Eliot she was(C) George Eliot has been popular and respected novelist, George Eliot after such time as she was(D) Before George Eliot became the popular and respected novelist, George Eliot,she was(E) George Eliot, before she was the popular and respected novelist, George Eliot, had been

If A is right in this then what about this question:

In the minds of many people living in England, before Australia was Australia, it was the antipodes, the opposite pole to civilization, an obscure and unimaginable place that was considered the end of the world.(A) before Australia was Australia, it was the antipodes(B) before there was Australia, it was the antipodes(C) it was the antipodes that was Australia(D) Australia was what was the antipodes(E) Australia was what had been known as the antipodes

Then past perfect should be used in this question also. (Since it had been antipodes before it was Australia.)